It's another year of growth for Brew-Woo at DCU

The layout for the Brew-Woo craft beer festival at the DCU Center Saturday had four lines of “pods” for a total of more than 30 brewers from around New England.

“I tend to do it systematically, up and down. If you see something you don't like, skip it. If you like it, you can go back for a second,” said Kevin Labrecque of Holbrook, who was at Brew-Woo with his wife, Martha Labrecque, and friends Jon McEwan and Heather Carrabis of Westboro. In systematic fashion, it had also been agreed that Mrs. Labrecque would be the designated driver.

But “friends” proved to be the operative word.

Asked what is the best way to drink beer, Mr. McEwan (who sported a well-crafted handlebar moustache) said, “With friends.”

His friends agreed. “It's getting together and enjoying it with friends,” Mr. Labrecque said.

That they were walking around a craft beer festival together also tapped into something important. They love craft beer — which is to say beers made by small, local breweries.

“It's finding something you really like and is not fabricated,” Mr. Labrecque said.

This was the first time all four had attended Brew-Woo, which was having its third annual outing — or pouring — at the DCU Center Saturday.

Brew-Woo is a DCU Center production, something of a rarity, said Amy Peterson, DCU's director of marketing. But it has become a very successful production. “It's grown every year. This will be the biggest year,” Ms. Peterson said.

Brew-Woo was spread out over two sessions, and Ms. Peterson said she was anticipating sell-outs of 3,000 people per session.

Brew-Woo featured more than 75 styles of beer (and cider). Craig Colonero of Consolidated Beverages LLC, which does distribution for an increasing number of local craft brewers, said there are now more than 5,000 small breweries in the United States, an all-time high. There was another period when there were a lot of breweries, but that was pre-Prohibition, Mr. Colonero said. After Prohibition, what was left for many years was a small number of large brewers. That has changed fairly dramatically. Sales of craft beers have been increasing at a rate of 15 percent a year, Mr. Colonero said. Craft beer still only represents a 10 percent total market share, but “all the growth has been craft beer,” he said.

So what's the appeal? “The flavor is so much richer, deeper. You can get so many different varieties,” said Mr. McEwan.

“It's not really a movement anymore. It's pretty established now as mainstream,” said Ethan Elston of Waltham about craft beers. He's a brewer for Harpoon Brewery of Boston (which was at the festival), but on Saturday was taking a sort of busman's holiday as he walked around the DCU Center with friends.

R.J. Schultz, head brewer for John Harvard's Brewery and Ale House in Framingham, said a small brewer (he makes about 1,000 barrels a year at 31 gallons a barrel) can custom its beers to its clients. “We try to cater it to the people of Framingham. We've been open 17 years. We know what they like,” Mr. Schultz said.

One tip for a brewer to keep on tap is “never be afraid to try anything new,” he said. “So many people have pushed the envelope,”

Mr. Schultz did some envelope pushing himself recently, producing a beer whose ingredients included not only hops but 10 pounds of cooked bacon. “People loved it,” he said. The beer was named Bamberger Swine Beer. “It came out good,” Mr. Schultz said.